B-Sides: Fan Feature by Adam Unger

For those of you that are old enough to remember a single as a 45 record and not a download from iTunes, then you are familiar with the B-side. B-sides would be pressed on the opposite side of a potential hit on either a 7” or 12” record. Usually the B-side would be just another track from the album that the particular artist was trying to sell at that point. Other times, there would be a surprise track that didn’t appear anywhere else. Whether it was Rain on the backside of Paperback Writer or Hey, Hey What Can I Do on the reverse of Immigrant Song, B-sides have made music fun, collectible, and a nice bonus for diehard fans.

Queen B-sides are no different. The majority of B-sides were either simply an album track or an edit, remix, or single version of an album track. There are, thankfully, exceptions to that statement. There are a select few B-side tracks, which at that time were non-album songs that were available exclusively on a single format. Read onwards for a brief history of Queen’s B-side catalogue.

The start of Queen’s B-side discography begins with their first UK top ten hit, The Seven Seas Of Rhye (UK 10). See What A Fool I’ve Been got its roots from Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry’s song The Way I Feel. Brian had heard the song from a television performance. He remembered the chord sequence and some of the lines, but not in their entirety. From the bits he could remember, Brian worked out a version of the song for his pre-Queen band Smile. The track was used sporadically as a live Queen track during early concerts and was finally released as a proper studio recording in February of 1974. Freddie provided a very tongue in cheek “spoof” vocal performance. Interestingly enough, Queen recorded an earlier version of the track in July 1973 for their second BBC session at Langham 1 Studio, London. The BBC Session 2 version features Freddie’s vocals in full force with a much more serious performance. Brian kept the multi-track tape from the Langham 1 Studio session. This precious, saved tape was used to provide the source material for the 2011 Mix of See What A Fool I’ve Been BBC version.

Six years later, Queen were looking for their follow-up to their smash hit, Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Play The Game was released in mid-1980 and became a modest hit (UK 14, US 42). The B-side was the Roger Taylor penned track, A Human Body. Roger provides lead vocals, drums, and guitar; Brian and Freddie assist Roger with backing vocals. It has been rumoured that the song fell out of favor with Roger. As a result, it did not appear on subsequent CD remaster catalogue campaigns for Hollywood Records’ 1991 releases or the 1994 Digital Master Series from EMI. Finally, the track entered the digital age with 2009’s The Singles Collection Volume 2 and 2011’s Deluxe Edition of The Game.

Soul Brother is the B-side to the 1981 smash hit Under Pressure (UK 1, US 29). Credited to the entire band, Soul Brother seems to be Queen spoofing themselves to a degree. Freddie’s vocals are mostly in falsetto, singing lyrics made up of other Queen tracks. The band are obviously having fun with this track and the energy translates well to the listener. This track is available on multiple singles compilations and made a surprise appearance on the US CD single of Heaven For Everyone (although the stereo channels were reversed).

I Go Crazy is the B-side to Radio Ga Ga (UK 2, US 16); the lead single to 1984’s The Works. Usually considered the favorite B-side among Queen fans, I Go Crazy began life three years earlier during the Under Pressure sessions. This Brian May track is a rock song through and through. The band puts on a great performance with a really good live feel to it.

Feeling rejuvenated by their legendary performance at Live Aid, Queen went back to the studio to begin work on One Vision (UK 7, US 61) and their album A Kind Of Magic. The B-sides to singles of this era were mostly instrumental songs inspired by their main A-side counterpart. Blurred Vision is more or less an instrumental remix of One Vision. Forever is an instrumental performance based around the basic melody of Who Wants To Live Forever; Brian May provides piano and Spike Edney is on synthesizer. The track was a bonus track on the A Kind Of Magic CD and appeared on the UK 12” vinyl. Finally, A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling, the B-side of A Kind Of Magic, is an instrumental variant of Don’t Lose Your Head.

After taking three years off, Queen returned in 1989 with their album The Miracle. This period was extremely productive for Queen in the studio. The Miracle generated 5 top 25 UK singles, all of which had an exclusive B-side track. I Want It All (UK 3, US 50) showed Queen was back in full force. The B-side, Hang On In There, started as a studio jam and grew into the final song. A slightly longer version with an added guitar chord at the end appears on the CD version of the album as a bonus track. Stealin’ was the B-side of the second single from this period, Breakthru (UK 7). Stealin’ is a laid back song that builds to a rip-roaring jam session at the end. The track took many different forms during its creation, starting as a 12-minute demo. Both The Invisible Man (UK 12) and its flipside, Hijack My Heart were the creation of Roger Taylor. Roger sings lead vocals on Hijack My Heart and provides most of the instrumentation. This would be the final time that Roger would appear singing lead vocals on a Queen track until 1995’s Let Me Live. My Life Has Been Saved, the B-side to Scandal (UK 25), was penned by John Deacon. The song was later revisited for inclusion on 1995’s Made In Heaven. The single The Miracle (UK 22) featured archived live performances to promote the upcoming video release Rare Live. Stone Cold Crazy from the 1974 Rainbow Theatre concert appeared on the 7”, 12”, and on the CD single. My Melancholy Blues from the 1977 Houston concert appeared on the 12” and CD singles.

The end of Queen’s studio career provided a final few B-side surprises. I’m Going Slightly Mad (UK 22) included Lost Opportunity on the 12” and CD single. This Brian May written track was recorded in a single take at the beginning of 1991. This is the last Queen track to feature Brian on lead vocals until 1995’s Let Me Live. Headlong (UK 14) featured a huge surprise for it’s 12” vinyl and CD single formats. Mad The Swine was an archival track from Queen’s first album that was never released. Originally recorded in June 1972, David Richards provided a fresh, polished mix from the original multi-track.

Made In Heaven was the final chapter to Queen’s album releases. Appearing on the CD single to A Winter’s Tale (UK 6), Rock In Rio Blues was the last proper B-side of the Queen catalogue. Recorded live in Rio on January 19, 1985, this track is the genesis of the Impromptu live jam that appeared during the following year’s Magic Tour. The US saw a slightly different version of this track on the CD single release of Too Much Love Will Kill You.

As a Queen fan, I remember the excitement of looking outside of the albums for these tracks. Like many of you, I spent hours in record shops thumbing through stacks 45s to find that hidden gem. Luckily for all of you that are beginning your journey, there are many more resources and methods to find these great songs. Whether it is flipping a piece of vinyl, or hitting play on your touch screen, put on your headphones, turn the volume up and enjoy the B-sides!

About our contributor:

How I discovered Queen: Through the publicity brought on by Wayne's World in the US.